Rafting bro really screwed up.
Location: Rochester, NY
Date Played: September 1, 2018
Team size: up to 10; we recommend 4-5
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $25 per ticket
Ticketing: Public
REA Reaction
Cabin in the Woods was a basic search-and-puzzle escape room with a spooky (not scary) vibe. Although the clue structure needed work, and the ending was abrupt, there were some fun solves in this room. The inclusion of some effects elevated the experience and delivered the most fun moments.
If you’re in Rochester and looking for an escape room fix, stop in. Nut House Escape Rooms is a new company that cares about their product.
Who is this for?
- The supernatural-curious
- Any experience level
Why play?
- Surprising moments
- Spooky effects
Story
Seeking shelter after a whitewater rafting incident left us drenched and cold, we stumbled upon a cabin in the woods. We entered the abandoned shelter… and then the door slammed shut, trapping us inside with whomever or whatever inhabited the place.
Setting
Cabin in the Woods took place in a small one-room cabin with wood overtones and a fireplace in the corner. It had standard furniture essentials including a bed, table, kitchen cabinets, and bookshelf. It was rustic and woodsy.
Gameplay
Nut House Escape Rooms’ Cabin in the Woods was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around searching and puzzling.
Analysis
+ The exterior of the game was deliberately designed to look like a cabin.
+ Cabin in the Woods was just a bit spooky. It wasn’t so scary as to be horror. It was creepy, yet approachable, which gave it broad appeal.
– Cabin in the Woods lacked clue structure. Much of the challenge came from logic leaps in the puzzle design.
– The cluing for different puzzles overlapped in a strange way that led us to disregard some much-needed cluing as part of another, already-solved puzzle. This led us astray for a good portion of our time.
+ We especially enjoyed when one prop spelled out our unfortunate situation.
– Cabin in the Woods relied on multiple locks with the identical digit structure, all available to us at once. Since puzzles weren’t mapped to locks, we had to try any derived solution everywhere, which became irritating.
+ Nut House Escape Rooms designed some fun effects to deliver on the supernatural story arc. Our team reacted to these and we all enjoyed these moments.
– Cabin in the Woods opened with a lot of unnecessary backstory. Once we entered the escape room, this entire awkward sequence was entirely irrelevant… but we could never be sure it wouldn’t come into play.
– Cabin in the Woods ended abruptly. It was missing a final puzzle to tie everything together and conclude our story.
+ When our attentive gamemaster swooped in with additional clarity, he did so in character, with a creepy flourish. This was unnecessary, but so good.
Tips for Visiting
- There is a parking lot.
Book your hour with Nut House Escape Rooms’ Cabin in the Woods, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: Nut House Escape Rooms provided media discounted tickets for this game.
